We were all laughing too hard at first to take him seriously, but then he began to explain. He said that for the rest of his life, with whatever time he has left, he wants to "be viral" in his belief of Jesus Christ. He expressed a desire to live in such a way that his belief in Jesus Christ is contagious. You see, the only way the world is going to catch this "virus" is for us to go out and, well...sneeze on them.
As a bunch of ministry students, you wouldn't think we would find this profound right? I mean, this is what we are in school for. But in all actuality, we all get so caught up in our "to do list" and programming life that, even as ministers it is profoundly difficult to find time to sneeze Jesus to the world. It is hard to find time to "be viral" and different because just like everyone else, the pace of our lives tempts us to put evangelism off for a more convenient time. "One of these days I'll get all my life in one pile and THEN I'll be able to devote more time to being on mission for Jesus everyday...As soon as I get this one thing behind me Lord, then you can send me out...When I know more about what to say to others and when I can carry out the logical argument, then you can put me there Lord..."
The excuses abound. I hem and haw and procrastinate and pray for more wisdom while the world continues to wander about in a wasteland of confusion, guilt and doubt. The saddest thing is: God doesn't want me to "have it all together" before I am sent out. As a matter of fact, the Biblical track record suggests that he kind of prefers screws ups like me to deliver his message. And all I really need is the message of the gospels. The Bible will really do it's stuff if I'll just do a halfway decent job of representing it and then share it with others and let it do it's thing with them. I just need to get out of the way and let the Bible do it's stuff - in my life first and then just share that experience with others.
So that is what "sneezing Jesus" is all about. This is one of the only times of the year when the world even recognizes Jesus existed. I hope I don't blow my chance to sneeze on someone this week.
Nice way to think about it. I was thinking that it might be about being so filled with Jesus that there is no where else for Him to go, so He's coming out in sneezes. That works too, though!
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